Opposition politicians have stepped up their criticism of Pakistan's leaders over the killing of bin Laden in a raid by U.S. special forces in a northern Pakistani town on May 2.

Pakistan welcomed the death of bin Laden, who plotted the Sept. 11, 2001, airliner attacks on the United States, as a step in the fight against militancy but also complained that the raid was a violation of its sovereignty.

The fact that bin Laden was found hiding in the garrison town of Abbottabad, 50 km (30 miles) from the capital, has led to accusations that Pakistani security agencies were either incompetent or sheltering the world's most wanted man.

"Allegations of complicity or incompetence are absurd," Gilani said in a televised address to parliament, adding that it was disingenuous for anyone to accuse Pakistan, including its spy agency, of "being in cahoots" with the al Qaeda network.

The U.S. raid has added to strains in ties between Islamabad and Washington, which are crucial to combating Islamist militants and to bringing stability to Afghanistan.

The United States has stopped short of accusing Pakistan of providing shelter to bin Laden but Islamabad is under pressure to explain how bin Laden found refuge.

Gilani warned that unilateral actions such as the U.S. Navy SEALs swoop on bin Laden's hideout ran the risk of serious consequences, but he added that Pakistan attached high importance to its relations with the United States.

Pakistan's main opposition party has called on Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari to resign over the breach of sovereignty by U.S. special forces who slipped in from Afghanistan on helicopters to storm the compound where bin Laden was holed up.

"I think it is a big blow to Pakistan's sovereignty, Pakistan's independence and Pakistan's self-respect," former prime minister Nawaz Sharif told reporters in Lahore. "Pakistan is in a grave crisis and is surrounded by big danger."

Domestic critics say the U.S. raid also raises questions about the safety of Pakistan's cherished nuclear weapons but Gilani said any move against them would be met with "a matching response".

"Pakistan reserves the right to retaliate with full force," he said.

TENSE RELATIONS WITH WASHINGTON

Pakistani-U.S. relations were already fragile after a string of diplomatic disputes over issues including a big attack by a U.S. drone aircraft in March and Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor who shot dead two Pakistanis in the city of Lahore in January.

Potentially stirring tension further, a Pakistani TV channel and a newspaper published what they said was the name of the undercover CIA station chief in Islamabad.

The U.S. embassy declined to comment, but said no one of that name worked at the mission in Pakistan.

Last year, after the chief of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency was named in a U.S. civil case over attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai, the then-head of the CIA's Islamabad station was named by Pakistani media and forced to leave the country.

The government and military have been embarrassed by the discovery of bin Laden in Abbottabad, near the country's main military academy.

"If he was really living in that compound for five years ... then why didn't our agencies discover him?" former foreign minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri told reporters. "This has given anti-Pakistani elements a chance to ridicule us."

But Gilani said he had full confidence in the armed forces and the military's ISI which he called a "national asset". The military would brief parliament in a closed session on Friday.

OBAMA SUSPECTS SUPPORT NETWORK

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday that bin Laden likely had "some sort" of a support network inside Pakistan, but added it would take investigations by Pakistan and the United States to find out just what the nature of that support was.

"We think that there had to be some sort of support network for bin Laden inside of Pakistan. But we don't know who or what that support network was," Obama said.

"We don't know whether there might have been some people inside of government, people outside of government, and that's something that we have to investigate, and more importantly, the Pakistani government has to investigate," he added.

Suspicion has deepened that the pervasive ISI, which has a long history of contacts with militant groups, may have had ties with the al Qaeda leader -- or that some of its agents did.

"Somebody in a position of authority had to know," said security analyst Ayesha Siddiqa, author of "Military Inc", which analyses the army's tight security, political and economic hold over Pakistan.

Siddiqa said the army and ISI's entrenched strategy of using violent militant groups as a counterweight against India may have been why the security establishment turned a blind eye to bin Laden, possibly regarding his network of followers as an asset against Indian influence.

Talat Masood, a retired general and defence analyst, said that if there was official collusion to keep bin Laden secure it was most likely provided at a local level.

"I feel definitely there were influential people who were protecting him," he said.

Pakistani security officials have reacted with scepticism to a U.S. assertion that bin Laden was actively engaged in directing his far-flung network from his Abbottabad compound.

Washington has said that, based on a trove of information that would fill a small college library seized in the raid, the hide-out was an "active command and control centre" for al Qaeda where he was involved in plotting attacks on the United States.

COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS

**

The Hindu - ‎28 minutes ago‎

It is strange that even the killing of Osama bin Laden at Abbottabad, near Pakistan's capital, has failed to raise fundamental questions about the idea of creating Frankensteins in the name of strategic assets and the wisdom of the defence experts and ...

WASHINGTON — The United States refused to say sorry Monday for taking out Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, after its estranged anti-terror ally warned it would retaliate against any future strikes. Amid a deepening crisis between the two uneasy partners, ...

By Bill O'Reilly Once again, I would like to point out the almost total absence of support from the Muslim world after the death of bin Laden. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The biggest oppressor, the biggest criminal in the world today is Barack Obama and his ...

Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's chief strategist, is poised to take command of a group that has been in decline for years. This June 2005 TV grab shows Osama bin Laden's chief strategist Ayman al-Zawahiri delivering a speech with a machine gun ...

The Guardian - ‎52 minutes ago‎

A newspaper stand in Karachi, Pakistan displays magazines and posters bearing the pictures of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and US President Barack Obama. Photograph: Athar Hussain/Reuters The Obama administration is facing a clash with Congress ...

Huffington Post - ‎57 minutes ago‎

WASHINGTON -- The hunt for Osama bin Laden may have cost the United States more than $1.25 trillion in military expenditures alone. But the final chapter of the al Qaeda leader's demise will likely end up saving the feds a not entirely insignificant ...

WASHINGTON — Tensions are escalating between the US and Pakistan, with everyone from President Barack Obama to top American intelligence officials warning the truth will soon emerge if Pakistani officials were knowingly housing Osama bin Laden for ...

Partyin', partyin' -- yeah! How better to dishonor the memory of Osama bin Laden than to make him watch "Friday?" (CNN) -- In the unruly mind of the Internet, death's not enough punishment for some people. Which may explain why Osama ...

Aside from details about mission logistics and the planning behind the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, one notable takeaway from President Obama's interview with "60 Minutes" was his candor about how nervous the operation made him. ...

Hindustan Times - ‎1 hour ago‎

India will ask the US to share the trove of information unearthed by the American forces from Osama bin Laden's hideout mansion in Abbottabad, Pakistan. New Delhi believes the contents would throw light on the cooperation among various terror outfits ...

Baltimore Sun (blog) - ‎1 hour ago‎

Osama bin Laden's death in Pakistan last week at the hands of Navy Seals was a moral and symbolic victory for the US but it complicated the already tense relationship between the Obama administration and Islamabad. The feeling in Washington is that the ...

CNN (blog) - ‎1 hour ago‎

Abbottabad, Pakistan (CNN) - Pakistan will allow the United States to question or take into custody the apparent wives of Osama bin Laden only if their "country of origin has been asked for permission," a senior Pakistani intelligence source told CNN ...

Tehran Times - ‎1 hour ago‎

By Rufreeman As American teenagers and young adults spill into the streets to celebrate the death of Osama bin Laden, what is the message that is being sent to the world? One of America's foremost writers, Joan Didion, in a memoir reflecting on the ...

Pakistan's civilian leadership has used last week's killing of Osama bin Laden by US forces to assert its authority over the military, which has ruled the country for most of its history. Yusuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan's prime minister, on Monday called ...

Tehran Times - ‎1 hour ago‎

By staff & agencies ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Monday said unilateral actions such as the US Navy SEALs' operation in Abbotabad runs the risk of serious consequences for the United States. Earlier, amid a diplomatic row ...

CANOE - ‎1 hour ago‎

Pakistan's Prime Minister is denying allegations that they knew that Osama bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan and did nothing about it. Do you believe that Pakistan didn't know bin Laden's whereabouts? If they didn't I'd start firing the heads of their ...

Seattle Post Intelligencer (blog) - ‎1 hour ago‎

By a two-to-one margin, Americans endorse President Obama's decision not to release pictures taken of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after he was shot by Navy SEALS, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal national poll. ...

Macleans.ca (blog) - ‎1 hour ago‎

In a speech to the Pakistani parliament, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani denounced claims his country was either incompetent or uncooperative in the search for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. “It is disingenuous for anyone to blame Pakistan or any ...

Baltimore Sun (blog) - ‎1 hour ago‎

When you're living during a major historical or cultural event in the making, people say that you remember exactly where you were when you heard the news. Many say that will apply to Sunday, May 1, 2011 -- the day President Obama announced that US ...

KABUL — The US military commander responsible for Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan said Monday that al-Qaeda and affiliated insurgents were “definitely hurt” by the death of Osama bin Laden, but that the conflict in ...

NDTV.com - ‎2 hours ago‎

Pakistan is a country in search of answers to angry, hard questions - How did the world's most dreaded terrorist hide right under the nose of Pakistan's military academy for more than five years? Today, Pak PM Yousuf Raza Gilani addressing his ...

Hindustan Times - ‎2 hours ago‎

US President Barack Obama faced sharply divided counsel and, to his mind, barely better-than-even odds of success when he ordered the raid last week that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the president said in an interview broadcast on Sunday. ...

IBNLive.com - ‎2 hours ago‎

PTI | 11:05 PM,May 09,2011 Karachi, May 9 (PTI) Afghanistan will play�three one-day matches against Pakistan 'A' side later this month, including a game at Abbottabad where US Special Forces last week killed world's most wanted terrorist Osama bin ...

Fox News - ‎2 hours ago‎

AP Pakistan's prime minister warned the United States Monday that his country could respond to any future US raids on its soil with "full force," in the latest escalation of rhetoric in the wake of Usama bin Laden's death. ...

President Barack Obama faced sharply divided counsel and, to his mind, barely better-than-even odds of success when he ordered the May 1 commando raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, the president said in an ...

News24 - ‎2 hours ago‎

Islamabad - Pakistan said on Monday it was "absurd" to level accusations of complicity or incompetence over the discovery of Osama bin Laden in a garrison city and announced an official probe into the affair. In a speech to Islamabad's parliament, ...

Not long after the announcement of Osama bin Laden's death, gamers already have the ability to experience the event via their keyboards and mice. Ricardo Bilton writes for ZDNet's The ToyBox. ...

The Guardian - ‎2 hours ago‎

CBS News's '60 Minutes' interview with President Barack Obama about the Osama bin Laden operation, 8 May 2011. Video: CBS News I wasn't expecting much in the way of tough questioning last night when I sat down to watch President Obama's interview with ...

We, the “millenials,” sat in classrooms on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, watching the chilling TV broadcasts of Al Qaeda terrorists flying planes into American landmarks. Far beyond the added security we face at ...

In a computer game likely to stir controversy, Americans who wished they could have pulled the avenging trigger on arch-terrorist Osama bin Laden can now virtually storm the infamous walled-off Pakistani compound themselves in a new